Patching board



B. J. REEL PATCHING BOARD Dec. 21, 1965 Filed Jan. 27, 1964 I NV E N TOR.PATE NT AGENT United States Patent 3,225,322 PATCHING BQARD Bernard 1'.Reel, Deep River, Gn'tario, Canada, assignor to Atomic Energy of CanadaLimited, Gttawa, Untario, Canada, a corporation of Canada Filed .Fan.27, 1964, Ser. No. 340,474 2 fllaims. (Cl, 33918) This invention relatesto a patching board of the type which permits interconnection of aplurality of electrical conductors in a variety of patterns.

Some of the various types of patching boards now known can only be usedfor permanent arrangements, and it is desirable, of course, in manyinstallations to make a temporary set-up on the patching board. Many ofthe types of known patching boards, and particularly those designed topermit a temporary set-up of the board, are of complex and bulkyconstruction, and as a result, they are costly to produce and maintain.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a patching board ofsimple and compact construction which permits permanent arrangements,and because the connections can be quickly changed, it can be used fortemporary arrangements as well.

According to the present invention, there is provided a central patchingboard insulating panel member having opposed front and back surfaceseach having at least one conductor accommodating groove therein. Thegroove in the front surface has a portion overlying a portion of thegroove in the back surface, and the panel member has a web sectionseparating the overlying portion of the groove in the front surface andthe portion of the groove in the back surface. The web section has a pegreceiving bore therethrough in communication at opposite ends with theportions of the grooves in the front and back surfaces.

Preferably, the front and back surfaces of the panel member each have aplurality of grooves therein, the grooves in the back surface extendingat an angle with respect to the grooves in the front surface, wherebythe grooves in the front surface cross the grooves in the back surfaceat a plurality of points and provide the board with a plurality ofpossible junction points.

More specifically, there is provided a pair of spaced tensionedconductors in each groove and extending longitudinally therealong. Eachpair of conductors extends through each of the points of crossing of thegrooves and across portions of each bore on opposite sides of thecentral axis of each bore so that when a peg of conductive material isinserted through the peg-receiving bore in the web section, it extendsbetween and engages each wire of the pair in each groove to therebyelectrically connect the pair of conductors in the groove in the frontsurface and the pair of conductors in the grooves in the back surface.

It is preferable to cover the front and back surfaces of the panel witha pair of cover plate members, at least one of which has peg-receivingbores axially aligned with the peg-receiving bores in the Web sectionsof the panel member.

The invention will now be described in more detail with reference to theaccompanying drawings, which show one embodiment of the invention by wayof example, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary front view of one corner of the patching boardof the present invention with a portion of the cover plate memberremoved for the sake of clarity;

FIGURE 2 is a cross-sectional view of the patching board taken along theline II--II of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary front view of the central panel member,without the conductors for the sake of clarity; and

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary back view of the central panel member withoutthe conductors for the sake of clarity,

In FIGURES 1 and 2, the reference character 10 denotes generally thepatching board which includes a central panel 11, front and back coverplates 12, 13 and conductors 14.

As can be best seen in FIGURES 3 and 4, the panel 11, is a rectangularplate-like member having flat front and back surfaces and four sideedges. The panel 11 can be economically produced of plastic by mouldingor from other materials having insulating qualities. For this purpose, aphenolic resin, NEMA Grade XXXP, is satisfactory. The front surface ofthe panel 11 has a set of parallel grooves 15 therein (see FIGURES 2 and3). The grooves run perpendicularly from one side edge of the panel tothe opposite side edge. The back surface of the panel 11 has another setof parallel grooves 16 therein (see FIGURES 2 and 4). It should bepointed out that the grooves have not been shown in full in FIG- URES 3and 4 for the sake of simplicity, but it is to be understood that thegrooves completely occupy both the front and back surfaces of the panel11. The grooves 16 run perpendicularly from one side edge, which isadjacent the side edge from which grooves 15 run, to

the opposite side edge, and thus extend in a direction perpendicularwith respect to grooves 15. Thus, each groove 15 of the set of groovesin the front surface crosses each groove 16 in the set of grooves in theback surface and therefore has portions at points spaced therealongwhich overly portions of each groove of the set of grooves 16 in theback surface. Each groove in both the front and back surfaces of thepanel is rectangular in cross-section, it being defined by a fiat bottomsurface 17 and opposed side wall surfaces 18, 18 disposedperpendicularly with respect to the bottom surface 17 and the front andback surfaces of the panel. All of the grooves are preferably of thesame depth, and the sum of the depths of a groove 15 and a groove 16 isless than the total thickness of the panel so that at the points ofcrossing web sections 21) are formed which separate each groove 15 inthe front surface from each groove 16 in the back surface (see FIGURE2). Each web section 211 has a bore 21 therethrough which communicatesat its opposite ends, of course, with a groove in both sets of grooves.Each bore 21 is centrally located with respect to a groove 15 and agroove 16, i.e., the central axis of each bore 21 intersects thelongitudinal center line of one groove 15 in the front surface and onegroove 16 in the back surface. Each bore 21 is counterbored at oppositeends to a depth equal to the depth of the grooves so as to provide awidened section 22 in the grooves at each bore.

At each end of each groove there is provided a pair of bores 23. Eachpair of bores 23 in grooves 15 extends from the bottom surface 17 of thegroove to a short groove 24 on the opposite side of the panel. Grooves24 are in the back surface of the panel, each groove 24 being directlyunder the outer end of a groove 15 in the front surface of the panel 11.The grooves 24 extend in from the same side edges as grooves 15 but onlyextend as far as the first groove 16 as can be seen in FIG- URES 2 and4. Each pair of bores 23 in grooves 16 extend from the bottom surface 17of the groove to a short groove 25 on the opposite side of the panel.Grooves 25 are on the front side of the panel, each groove 25 beingdirectly over the outer end of a groove 16 in the back surface of thepanel. One bore of each pair of bores 23 is close to one of the sidewall surfaces 18 of the groove 15 or 16, and the other of the pair ofbores 23 is spaced from the one bore and is close to the opposite sidewall surface 18 of the same groove, and preferably, each bore of thepair 23 is immediately adjacent a side wallsurface 18 so that the planeof the side wall surface 18 is tangential to the rim of the bore.

The pair of conductors in each groove whether it be in the front surfaceor the back surface of the panel are formed from a single length ofwire. A gold-plated beryllium wire is desirable for this purpose sinceit resists oxidation and thus permits better connections. As can be seenin FIGURES 1 and 2, the pair of conductors in each of grooves are formedby the length of wire passing from one of the grooves 24 at the edge ofthe board up through one of a first pair of bores 23 to the grooves 15,extending along the groove 15 adjacent' one side surface 18 thereof toits opposite end, looping through a second set of bores 23, extendingback along the same groove 15 adjacent the opposite side surface 18thereof, and passing back through the other of the first pair of bores23 to the groove 24. The initial tension may be applied to the wire bysimply twisting the free ends of the wire in groove 24 together as shownat 26 in FIGURE 2. The pair of conductors 14 in grooves 16 are providedin exactly the same manner, but the twisted free ends of the'wire ineach of grooves 16 are located in grooves along another side edge of thepanel. Each electrical lead of the leads to be connected by the patchingboard may be soldered directly to one of the twisted ends of the wire tothereby electrically connect each lead to a pair of conductors 14 in oneof the grooves in the patching board.

As indicated above, the bores of the pair of bores 23 are immediatelyadjacent side wall surfaces 18 of the grooves 15 and 16, and thereforethe pair of conductors 14 in each groove are held, when the wire isinitially tensioned as explained above, in close proximity if not inengagement with the side wall surfaces 18 as shown in FIGURES 1 and 2.The spacing between the pair of conductors 14 in each groove is lessthan the diameter of the bores 21, i.e., the width of the groove 15 or16 less twice the diameter of the wire is less than the diameter of eachbore 21, so that both conductors of the pair of conductors 14 extendacross a portion of each bore 21 communicating with the grooves onopposite sides of the central axis of the bore.

As indicated above, a front cover plate 12 is secured to the front ofpanel 11 for covering all of the grooves 15 with the conductors 14accommodated therein. The cover plate 12 is detachably secured to thepanel by screws 30 (see FIGURE 1) passing through holes in the cornersof the covers of the plate and threaded into tapped holes 31 in panel 11(see FIGURE 3). The cover plate 12 has a plurality of bores 32 thereinwhich axially align with bores 21 when the plate 12 is secured to panel11. The bores 32 may be slightly larger than the bores 21 to avoid thenecessity of close manufacturing tolerances. The back cover plate 13 issecured to the back surface of the panel 11 in the same fashion and maybe identical to front cover plate 12. Both cover plates have the sameouter dimensions as the panel 11 and are moulded from the sameinsulating material as the panel 11.

A patching peg 33 for connecting the conductors 14 in one of grooves 15to the conductors 14 in one of the grooves 16 is of very simpleconstruction. The peg 33 includes a cylindrical stem portion 34 made ofa conducting material and of a diameter to snugly fit in the bores 21.The outer end of stem 33 is preferably rounded as shown in FIGURE 2 tofacilitate the separation of the conductors 14 when the peg is beinginserted into the patching board. The peg 33 further include a handleportion 35 of greater diameter than the bores 32 so that it defines ashoulder 36 for engagement with the outer surface of the cover plate 12,the stem 34 being long enough to project through the thickness of atleast the cover plate 12 and panel 11 when shoulder 36 is in engagementwith the cover plate 12.

Since the conductors 14 in each groove extend across bore 21 and thestem is substantially the same diameter as bore 21, the stem must spreadeach pair of tensioned conductors when it is inserted into a bore, asshown in FIGURE 1, so that a good electrical connection is formedbetween each pair of conductors and the stem 33. The difierence betweenthe diameter of the counterbores forming the widened sections 22 in thegrooves and the diameter of the bores 21 is sufficiently great that theconductors have ample room to spread when the pegs are inserted.Therefore, assuming in the case of the example shown in FIGURE 1, thepair of conductors 14 in the groove 15 second from the bottom isconnected to a lead Y and the pair of conductors 14 in the groove 16second from the left is connected to a lead B, the insertion of a peg 33as shown would electrically connect lead Y to lead B through the stem 34of the peg. Of course, by utilizing a plurality of pegs in a boardhaving several grooves in the front surface of the panel and several inthe back surface as shown in FIGURES 3 and 4, hundreds of differentpatterns of interconnections can be set up.

As mentioned previously, cover plates 12 and 13 can be identical.Therefore, excluding the wire, only two different parts must bemanufactured to produce the patching boards of this invention, namelycover plates and panels. Moreover, both parts can be produced from thesame material by a simple moulding process.

The side wall surfaces of the grooves prevent the pair of conductors 14from splaying out, but each counterbore allows the conductors 1 1 to beforced apart by the stem 34 of the peg. This insures that a good contactis made between the conductors and the stem and also that the stem isfirmly gripped by the conductors. Therefore, unlike many known types ofpatching boards, solid pegs can be used instead of spring or bowed pins,and since solid pegs can be made smaller in size, this permits closerspacing of the crossing points of the two sets of grooves which resultsin a more compact board. For example, the board according to the presentinvention having a 16 by 16 matrix may be as small as 4% by 4 /2 inches.

Another important feature of the device of the present invention is thatno close tolerances must be observed during production. Since the pegsinserted into the board are gripped between a first pair of conductorsextending in one direction and also between a second pair of conductorsextending in a direction disposed at right angles with respect to thedirection of the first-mentioned pair, the pegs are tightly held by theconductors so that the size and location of the bores 21 are notcritical. The bores. 32 in the cover plates can be made larger than thebores 21 as indicated above to avoid close manufacturing tolerances.Moreover, the amount of tension initially applied to the conductors bythe twist 25 is not important sinw the conductors 14 in each groove areconstrained by the side wall surfaces 18 of the grooves and theinsertion of a peg increased the tension because the conductors mustspread around the peg.

Since the pegs are held in the board by the tensioned conductors, theycan be easily removed by simply pulling on the handle portion 35 andthen inserted at a ditferent junction to change the pattern of theinterconnections. Therefore, the patching board can be used equally aswell for a permanent or temporary arrangement.

I claim:

1. A patching board comprising a rectangular insulating panel memberhaving side edges and flat opposed front and back surfaces, said frontsurface having a plurality of parallel grooves therein extending in adirection at right angles with respect to one of said side edges, saidback surfaces having a plurality of parallel grooves therein extendingin a direction at right angles with respect to the grooves in the frontsurface, each groove being defined by a fiat bottom surface and opposedflat side surfaces disposed perpendicularly with respect to said bottomsurface and said front and back surfaces, each groove in the frontsurface crossing at longitudinally spaced points the grooves in the backsurface, the bottom surfaces of the grooves in the front surface beingseparated from the bottom surfaces of the grooves in the back surface atthe points of crossing by web sections, said panel member having a pairof wire receiving bores at each end of each groove extending from thebottom surface of the groove to the opposite surface of the panelmember, one bore of each pair being adjacent one side surface of thegroove and the other bore of the pair being spaced from said one boreand adjacent the opposite side surface, a length of conductor wire foreach groove having its free ends extending from the groove through onepair of the bores, each length of wire extending along the groovejuxtaposed one side surface and being looped through the pair of boresopposite the pair of bores receiving the free ends of the wire and backalong the groove juxtaposed the other side surface to present a pair ofspaced conductors in each groove, the free ends of the wire being woundtogether at the surface of the panel member opposite to the groovecontaining the conductors to maintain the pair of spaced conductorsunder tension, each web section having a peg receiving bore therethroughcommunicating at opposite ends with one groove in the front surface andone groove in the back surface, each peg receiving bore having itscentral axis passing between the pair of conductors in each groove withwhich it communicates and having a diameter greater than the distancebetween the conductors of one pair, each groove being enlarged in widtharound each peg receiving bore so that the distance between each sidesurface of the groove and the bore is greater than the diameter of oneconductor, a pair of plate members secured to the panel member andcovering said front and back surfaces, said plate members hav ing aplurality of peg receiving bores therethrough of a diameter at least asgreat as said peg receiving bores in said web sections, each bore ineach plate member being axially aligned with one peg receiving bore insaid web sections, and a plurality of peg members for reception in saidaxially aligned peg receiving bores, each peg member including aconductor engaging, cylindrical stern portion formed of conductingmaterial and of a diameter to snugly fit in the peg receiving bores inthe web sections, and a handle portion connected to said stem anddefining a shoulder for engaging one of said plate members when saidstem projects through one of the peg receiving bores in said websections and the bores in said plates aligned there with.

2. A patching board as defined in claim 1, wherein said conductor wireis a gold plated beryllium copper wire.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 261,187 7/1882Vail 317112 424,995 4/1890 Owen 317-112 840,537 1/1907 Weir 33918 X2,922,135 1/1960 Hooerg et a1. 339-18 3,021,498 2/1962 Spillar 339-183,027,534 3/1962 Deakin 339-18 3,151,923 10/1964 Bell et a1. 33918JOSEPH D. SEERS, Primary Examiner.

PATRICK A. CLIFFORD, Examiner.

1. A PATCHING BOARD COMPRISING A RECTANGULAR INSULATING PANEL MEMBERHAVING SIDE EDGES AND FLAT OPPOSED FRONT AND BACK SURFACES, SAID FRONTSURFACE HAVING A PLURALITY OF PARALLEL GROOVES THEREIN EXTENDING IN ADIRECTION OF RIGHT ANGLES WITH RESPECT TO ONE OF SAID SIDE EDGES, SAIDBACK SURFACES HAVING A PLURALITY OF PARALLEL GROOVES THEREIN EXTENDINGIN A DIRECTION AT RIGHT ANGLES WITH RESPECT TO THE GROOVES IN THE FRONTSURFACE, EACH GROOVE BEING DEFINED BY A FLAT BOTTOM SURFACE AND OPPOSEDFLAT SIDE SURFACES DISPOSED PERPENDICULARLY WITH RESPECT TO SAID BOTTOMSURFACE AND SAID FRONT AND BACK SURFACES, EACH GROOVE IN THE FRONTSURFACE CROSSING AT LONGITUDINALLY SPACED POINTS THE GROOVES IN THE BACKSURFACE, THE BOTTOM SURFACES OF THE GROOVES IN THE FRONT SURFACE BEINGSEPARATED FROM THE BOTTOM SURFACES OF THE GROOVES IN THE SURFACE AT THEPOINTS OF CROSSING BY WEB SECTIONS, SAID PANEL MEMBER HAVING A PAIR OFWIRE RECEIVING BORES AT EACH END OF EACH GROOVE EXTENDING FROM THEBOTTOM SURFACE OF THE GROOVE TO THE OPPOSITE SURFACE OF THE PANELMEMBER, ONE BORE OF EACH PAIR BEING ADJACENT ONE SIDE SURFACE OF THEGROOVE AND THE OTHER BORE OF THE PAIR BEING SPACED FROM SAID ONE BOREAND ADJACENT THE OPPOSITE SIDE SURFACE, A LENGTH OF CONDUCTOR WIRE FOREACH GROOVE HAVING ITS FREE ENDS EXTENDING FROM THE GROOVE THROUGH ONEPAIR OF THE BORES, EACH LENGTH OF WIRE EXTENDING ALONG THE GROOVEJUXTAPOSED ONE SIDE SURFACE AND BEING LOOPED THROUGH THE PAIR OF BORESOPPOSITE THE PAIR OF BORES RECEIVING THE FREE ENDS OF THE WIRE AND BACKALONG THE GROOVE JUXTAPOSED THE OTHER SIDE SURFACE TO PRESENT A PAIR OFSPACED CONDUCTORS IN EACH GROOVE, THE FREE ENDS OF THE WIRE BEING WOUNDTOGETHER AT THE SURFACE OF THE PANEL MEMBER OPPOSITE TO THE GROOVECONTAINING THE CONDUCTORS TO MAINTAIN THE PAIR OF SPACED CONDUCTORSUNDER TENSION, EACH WEB SECTION HAVING A PEG RECEIVING BORE THERETHROUGHCOMMUNICATING AT OPPOSITE ENDS WITH ONE GROOVE IN THE FRONT SURFACE ANDONE GROOVE IN THE BACK SURFACE, EACH PEG RECEIVING BORE HAVING ITSCENTRAL AXIS PASSING BETWEEN THE PAIR OF CONDUCTORS IN EACH GROOVE WITHWHICH IT COMMUNICATES AND HAVING A DIAMETER GREATER THAN THE DISTANCEBETWEEN THE CONDUCTORS OF ONE PAIR, EACH GROOVE BEING ENLARGED IN WIDTHAROUND EACH PEG RECEIVING BORE SO THAT THE DISTANCE BETWEEN EACH SIDESURFACE OF THE GROOVE AND THE BORE IS GREATER THAN THE DIAMETER OF ONECONDUCTOR, A PAIR OF PLATE MEMBERS SECURED TO THE PANEL MEMBER ANDCOVERING SAID FRONT AND BACK SURFACES, SAID PLATE MEMBERS HAVING APLURALITY OF PEG RECEIVING BORES THERETHROUGH OF A DIAMETER AT LEAST ASGREAT AS SAID PEG RECEIVING BORES IN SAID WEB SECTIONS, EACH BORE INEACH PLATE MEMBER BEING AXIALLY ALIGNED WITH ONE PEG RECEIVING BORE INSAID WEB SECTIONS, AND A PLURALITY OF PEG MEMBERS FOR RECEPTION IN SAIDAXIALLY ALIGNED PEG RECEIVING BORES, EACH PEG MEMBER INCLUDING ACONDUCTOR ENGAGING, CYLINDRICAL STEM PORTION FORMED OF CONDUCTINGMATERIAL AND OF A DIAMETER TO SNUGLY FIT IN THE PEG RECEIVING BORES INTHE WEB SECTIONS, AND A HANDLE PORTION CONNECTED TO SAID STEM ANDDEFINING A SHOULDER FOR ENGAGING ONE OF SAID PLATE MEMBERS WHEN SAIDSTEM PROJECTS THROUGH ONE OF THE PEG RECEIVING BORES IN SAID WEBSECTIONS AND THE BORES IN SAID PLATES ALIGNED THEREWITH.